U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says Chinese exports to the U.S. increased by 1,500 percent since 2006.
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Flickr Creative Commons: Chandra Marsono
RICHLAND, Wash. – A coalition of U.S. solar manufacturers filed a complaint Wednesday against the Chinese solar industry. The petition accuses Chinese companies of receiving illegal subsidies.
SolarWorld led the coalition that filed the complaint. The company employs 1,100 people in Hillsboro, Oregon. SolarWorld president Gordon Brinser says the competition is putting solar companies in the United States out of business.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore.,says China is not competing fairly.
“This is a question of there being specific differences between how we try to go to bat for our industries and how China does. We play by the rules. China is not,” Wyden says.
Wyden says subsidies focused on exports are not allowed in international trade agreements. He says Chinese exports to the U.S. increased by 1,500 percent since 2006.
A database, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, lists state solar incentives.
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